Tengzhou Spicy Soup 滕州辣汤
Tengzhou Spicy Soup is featured among the local specialties of Shandong.
Tengzhou Spicy Soup (滕州辣汤) is a breakfast speciality of Tengzhou (滕州), eaten throughout the year. Its name refers to the fragrant heat of pepper, which seasons a flour-based soup containing wheat gluten and several shredded ingredients.
Washing the dough
Dazhong Net (大众网) describes preparation beginning the previous afternoon for the following morning. Flour and water are kneaded into dough, then washed slowly by hand in clean water until only gluten remains. The gluten rests in a basin for at least ten hours before being stirred into a boiling pot of flour-water soup.
After it boils, pepper, tofu skin, green vegetables, shredded kelp and cooked egg sheet are added. A little vinegar and sesame oil finish the soup at serving.
With fried dough or buns
The soup accompanies breakfast breads: sanzi (馓子), thin fried dough strands, can be soaked in it, while youtiao (油条), fried dough sticks, and baozi (包子), filled buns, are other customary pairings.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-27. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.